'Parks and Recreation' Season 4, Episode 21 Recap - 'Bus Tour'

It seems as though, if Leslie is going to win the City Council race (and she might, since they can't have Paul Rudd around forever), she's going to stumble into it.

With the vote approaching, the Knope campaign hops on a tour bus so that Leslie can deliver her stump speech all over Pawnee. That's all going fine until, on one campaign stop, a reporter asks for a statement about Bobby Newport's dad, Nick Newport. Leslie proceeds to call him a "jerk," right before she finds out that Nick Newport died that morning.

Of course, the Newport campaign, lead by Jennifer, decides to take it all as an opportunity: they rip into Leslie for being insensitive, then hold a memorial service at the Newport mansion so that when Leslie shows up to apologize to Bobby, she's made to look like an even bigger ass. But then, these are the awkward moments that make this show so great.

Leslie finally gets through to Bobby, though, whom Paul Rudd plays with an extra dose of wounded puppy this week. He and Leslie have a heart-to-heart, after which Bobby talks to the press and gives Leslie his own personal thanks. In fact, he pretty much gives her his endorsement, telling people to vote for her if they don't vote for him.

Other storylines of the night follow Tom, Ron and Donna as they attempt to get back a fleet of vans from guest star Mike O'Malley, who by the way is the best thing about "Glee" right now. After Tom and Ron fail in their attempts to sway him from honoring his contract (despite the Newport campaign offering $10,000 to ground the vehicles), Donna goads him into hitting her car, after which she backs into him hard, making it look like a bigger accident. Problem solved!

Chris is also notable in a week where he has to keep moving constantly to avoid falling into a "deep pit of despair," from which even some nice words from April can't save him. What can, apparently, is having sex with Jennifer. Let's hope that doesn't get spun into something terrible on the day of the vote.

Andy, aka Burt Maclin, spends the episode trying to find out who attacked Leslie (and hit Jerry) with a pie. After pulling out all the techniques he has ever seen on TV, Andy finally finds the culprit: it's Sewage Joe, and he was actually aiming for Ben. Another case closed by Burt Maclin.

Notes & Quotes:

- "I'd Be Lying If I Said I Hadn't Thought About It is in position."

- "At the end of the day, all anyone really wants is free clothing shot at them from a cannon."